How often do we think to ourselves that if we only had time for wellness we could do so much better in our careers? On this show Laura Summers – Associate Clinical Professor and Program Leader for Leadership in the P-12 Libraries Program at the University of Colorado, Denver – talks about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness for Librarians. A commitment to taking care of ourselves truly can benefit us and our organizations.
Transcript
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Adriane Herrick Juarez:
This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. You’re listening to Library Leadership Podcast where we talk about libraries, and leadership, and speak with guests who share their ideas, innovations, and strategic insights into the profession.
How often do we think to ourselves that if we only had time for wellness we could do so much better in our careers? On this show Laura Summers—Associate Clinical Professor and Program Leader for Leadership in the P-12 Libraries Program at the University of Colorado, Denver, talks about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness for Librarians. A commitment to taking care of ourselves truly can benefit us and our organizations. Enjoy the show!
Laura, welcome to the show!
Laura Summers:
Thank you, it’s so nice to be here, thanks for having me.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #1: I’m excited to have you here with me today talking about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness for Librarians. As we start, why is it important for us in libraries to be thinking about this topic? 01:31
Laura Summers:
I consider our profession that of the service industry. A contributor industry is usually a better way to frame that with the public. It’s so important that we take care of ourselves, that we remember that, to use the overused cliché—that when we’re in a plane they ask us to put on our oxygen mask before we put on someone else’s. That’s just a good reminder in a profession where there’s high demand, a lot of customer service, and interaction with the public.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #2: Jumping in—can you briefly share with us what are the 8 Dimensions of Wellness? 02:22
Laura Summers:
The 8 Dimensions of Wellness are actually key areas that were conceptualized in the 1970’s. From there, various people have created models to help individuals live a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle. The idea is that when one focuses on what one finds most valuable and meaningful in their lives—there’s then, some variation between six dimensions and eight dimensions. Currently the most popular format is the eight dimensions, which are: physical; spiritual; social; intellectual; emotional, or mental; occupational; environmental; and financial—and not in any one particular order. Those are the eight dimensions that I focus on in my work.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #3: Fantastic. Let’s start investigating each of these. Can you share what we need to know about each of the 8 Dimensions of Wellness? 03:13
Laura Summers:
Sure, I’d like to start with occupational since I’m oftentimes talking with practitioners. Occupational wellbeing means safe and healthy productivity, the ability to achieve a work/life balance; to manage workplace stress; and to build relationships with our colleagues.
A theme in terms of that occupational wellness is setting boundaries at work. Most of us now are familiar with Brené Brown, the Sociologist from the University of Texas. She talks about, in her video interviews, the most compassionate people actually set boundaries in order to prevent burnout and reduce stress. So that’s a really important element in these times as we’ve found that the increase of burnout from stress has magnified since the pandemic.
That’s the first one I usually start with in terms of really digging into what it means to have workplace balance. The most common one is physical wellbeing. That is thinking about our exercise, walking, anything we can do to take care of our physical self—nutrition. The importance of physical wellness in our work environment is really thinking about how do we make sure that we’re getting up and moving around, and not always sitting at a computer, or that we’re considering when we take lunch breaks, or coffee breaks—building in time to maintain that physical wellbeing?
The third dimension that I talk about is spiritual. When I talk about this one I really want to provide a broad perspective around spiritual wellness. That has to do with the meaning and purpose for our life. What do we value in our life, and how do we find purpose and meaning? It also can be referenced as the search for an inner peace, learning how to be in the present moment, as well as having hope for the future, and building resilience for the future. It’s also oftentimes referred to as being able to have loving relationships with ourselves, as well as others, and having that sense of belonging.
The fourth dimension is social wellness. This refers to having healthy friendships, understanding how to be a good friend, and knowing how to navigate social situations. There are actually three pillars that I talk about in regard to social wellness. That’s communication, having healthy relationships, and stress management.
I dig into the aspect of—if you consider yourself an introvert, compared to being an extrovert, and what is actually interesting is that the research shows that both introverts, and extroverts find that socializing eventually is draining. As an extrovert, it takes longer for that fatigue to set in. What’s interesting about that study is it’s just allowing us to not be so judgmental about all needing rest, and knowing what our boundaries are around rest. Really thinking about if we are going to heal, and not feel guilty for rest. We’ve got to internalize that to take time for ourselves—if that means reading a book, or puttering around the house, or taking a nice long bath, or even prioritizing a walk over a mandatory family outing. That’s something that we feel comfortable talking to our loved ones about.
It’s really important—that act of self-care is going to help with that stress. Actually, it increases productivity at work. That’s what we have to think about as well. How does stress affect us? Is there—have we lost interest in our activities? Do we feel like we’re not as productive at work? Or, are we even withdrawing from family, and friends? I know at this time, with the new year, we’re thinking about resolutions. So maybe just the actual idea behind, Oh, I’m going to be more vocal when I need to say I just need to rest a little while, and I’m really going to take some time for myself. I think that’s an important aspect.
Then, intellectual wellness is—how are we supporting our own lifelong learning? That can look in a variety of ways for an individual. With librarians, in particular, we find—obviously reading is popular, but you may also find that you want to explore the intellectual side of virtual museums, or makerspace areas, anything that’s going to build on that intellectual lifelong learning.
The sixth dimension that I talk about is emotional/mental. This is probably the most commonly known one, and comes up a lot in terms of burnout. How are we feeling emotionally? How are we feeling that we’re supporting ourselves, or really, how do we ensure that we do set those boundaries that work so that we don’t feel drained all the time?
As you can see these dimensions tend to cross over, quite a bit, between each other. You can oftentimes be talking about your emotional wellbeing and realize, Oh, my emotional wellbeing is tied up in my social aspect of my life. Or, my physical aspect where I’m just not getting the exercise that I want to get, or I’m not eating the way I’d like to. Usually this is a very reflective self-exploratory process.
The seventh dimension is environmental. The theme that’s come up in my interviews with practitioners is the concept of decluttering. Research has shown that if we take the time to declutter our office environment, our homes, that we do actually feel lighter, and we feel more productive.
The very last one is financial. How comfortable do we feel with how we’re managing our finances? Do we feel like we have support in our strategies for the future? That can be everything from being aware of retirement strategies, how to build investments, also being aware of scams, and how to make sure we don’t fall victim to any financial situations that would, really, cause a panic, or stress, that we don’t need in our lives. Take time to talk about knowing what the current scams are out there, and how do we protect ourselves from that? Those are the eight dimensions. There’s a lot in each of those dimensions to cover.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #4:There is a lot. How could we use these dimensions to develop self-care strategies to benefit ourselves, our colleagues, and our patrons? 10:35
Laura Summers:
It’s really important that we take time to practice. I have my participants think about a goal for each week. Now, there is some thought out there that if you take twenty days to practice a goal that it becomes a habit. That is not necessarily the case. You have to decide how long is it going to take for me to practice this goal in order for it to become a habit? With the new year, it’s very popular to say, Okay, I’m going to have thirty days where I practice physical activity every day. You’ll see those 30-day challenges for yoga, or running, or whatever the case might be. It’s really not so much about—did I practice every day? It’s about—did I take time for myself every day? Giving yourself grace when we forget, but also knowing that by having a small task, a small goal each week, that it’s more likely that we’re able to sustain it over time.
It oftentimes helps to have someone that you care about, a friend, a colleague, support you in this adventure—in this journey and say, Okay this week I’m going to set this goal, and I’m going to keep working on it. You’re going to be my check-in buddy. At the end of the week you’re going to ask me how it went. If I didn’t do well, you’re going to be there to still support me, and remind me that a big part of this is being kind to ourselves and not being judgemental. Oh, there you fell off the goal, fell off—so to speak. It may be you said you weren’t going to eat cookies for the week, and you found yourself in the break room eating a cookie. It’s really just knowing that this is a process. It’s not about being right, or wrong, or perfect. It’s about really thinking about what’s going to make a difference on a daily basis for myself so that I can better prioritize the care that I provide others.
Librarians who commit to making self-care a priority—they align to what bell hooks references as engaged teaching and learning. Engaged pedagogy requires that anyone who is a role model, or in a contributing role with others—that you actually commit to that process of self-actualization. That by realizing, Oh, if I role model what it means to take care of myself then I’m teaching others what it means to take care of themselves. So, you’re actually empowering your patrons. You’re empowering the people around you, your colleagues, your patrons, the significant others in your life. The idea is that you’re showing up for yourself first. That’s a really important priority for being able to sustain a career that involves so much public presence, and that community service.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #5: Absolutely. So why is it important to create an action plan for self-care and wellbeing? 13:50
Laura Summers:
Similar to what I mentioned, sometimes things get busy and we forget—by having an action plan that we have committed to, by going through the actual process of planning, and setting a goal for the week, for the month—I had a group of learners who decided to work on one dimension per month. They practiced a goal within one of the dimensions for an entire month, but by making that commitment, and having it written down, we’re actually more likely to follow through on it—especially if we have a group that is doing it with us. So, I encourage this to be an activity with others within your library, so that it’s not just you trying to do it in isolation, but that it does become a part of that collaborative, social culture.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #6: I like that collaborative component. Is there anything else you’d like to share? 14:46
Laura Summers:
I really want to emphasize it’s not about being perfect. It’s about really taking a few minutes each day to think about what’s going to be beneficial to us so that we can continue to be the contributors that we want to be. Libraries are such a great place where there’s this responsive practice for others. You really have an opportunity to be part of the core values of the community. So, what I really feel—that taking time to reflect on these different dimensions is going to set your library up for success in terms of being part of that community for care, and community for compassion.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #7: Do you have any favorite management, or leadership books, or resources, and why? 15:32
Laura Summers:
Not so much in the traditional sense of identified leadership, but you’ll find Brené Brown’s books—she talks about leadership. She’s just had—she talks about that component of vulnerability, and trust, and being honest, showing up in a relationship, and being honest about where we’re at. It’s okay to admit that we’re tired. It’s okay to admit that we need more time to rest. What I really appreciated—she builds that into all of her work, just being a role model for that truth-telling, as well as that vulnerability.
I also mentioned bell hooks earlier. She writes a lot about education, but she also has written about community as women. Actually her name, belle hooks, is always written in lower case because she wants the reader to focus on her message rather than herself. She has some pretty powerful messages out there around inclusive practices, and people feeling like they belong. I think that’s an important part of being a librarian.
I think the third one is Simon Sinek, when he talks about his life circle. He has a book called Leaders Always Eat Last. He’s so empowering in terms of just really saying, You’ve got this. As long as you know your why. As long as you know why you’re there, that’s what matters. Just a few different leaders that I like to read and contribute my thoughts around, What does this work look like in day-to-day life? What would they say if I was having a conversation with them?
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #8: Thank you. I like the idea of being in conversation with those you are reading. 17:27
Laura Summers:
You pretend you’re inviting them for dinner—actually have a fun, reflective activity that focuses on your own wellbeing.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #9: Laura, in closing, what do libraries mean to you, personally? 17:40
Laura Summers:
I was that little girl who went to the library every week, and just fell in love with the idea of—I could learn anything I wanted, and I could travel anywhere I wanted to go—through books. So, libraries for me have always been that place of feeling at home, feeling like I had a place where I belonged. It didn’t matter what my philosophies were, what my ideas were—I knew I could find something in the library that spoke to my heart.
I just really find librarians, and libraries, are really an essential part of community, and heart. How do we create more compassion, heart-based living? How do we care about each other, especially given everything we’ve been through in the past few years? How are we there for each other? So, communities can have an essential place to be that inclusive place of belonging.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Wonderful, Laura. Thank you for being on the show as we kick off the new year talking about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness for Librarians. It’s a great reminder that a commitment to self-care, and wellbeing benefits ourselves, our colleagues, our organizations, and those we serve. It’s been fantastic having you on the show.
Laura Summers:
Thank you for having me.
You’ve been listening to Library Leadership Podcast. This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. For more episodes tune into LibraryLeadershipPodcast.com where you can now subscribe to get episodes delivered right into your email inbox. Our producer is Nathan Sinclair Vineyard. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.
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